Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Widening the Aperture: The Case for Taking a Broader Lens to the Dialogue between Products and Culture

Gold
Monday, March 25, 2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Share the love for this talk
Widening the Aperture: The Case for Taking a Broader Lens to the Dialogue between Products and Culture
Speakers: Neil Barrie
Link:

Summary

We’re all ultimately charged with making our products as useful and beloved as possible, but in order to do that, researchers must widen the aperture of user research. Usability, user journeys, and the like are critical, but the reality is that wider cultural factors provide the filter through which people experience your product. We need to dedicate more attention to how wider cultural factors shape what people need from a product experience—the dialogue between the wide and the narrow apertures are crucial to creating beloved, essential products. In this talk, Neil Barrie, Co-Founder and CEO of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, shares his perspectives on research’s role in helping companies build deeper, meaningful relationships with customers based on his work building the brands of the likes of Airbnb, Pinterest, Headspace, Pepsico, Monzo and Bumble. His talk will address: How culture is the lens through which people experience products Why products are the catalyst to purpose, facilitating behavior changes that can take marketing years to achieve What we can learn from insider cases of culturally driven UX innovation from leading unicorns like Flo Health, Pinterest and Airbnb

Key Insights

  • User research should expand from a narrow user-product focus to include a three-way dialogue between user, product, and culture.

  • Culture consists of shared values, beliefs, rituals, and symbols that deeply influence how people experience brands and products.

  • Embedding cultural insights at a leadership level increases user research influence on business and brand strategy.

  • Creating a triple win cultural role requires alignment between company commitment, user needs, and wider cultural tensions.

  • Differentiation through cultural relevance can avoid the 'wind tunnel UX effect' where products become indistinguishable.

  • Focusing on edge user cases rather than homogenous personas uncovers breakthrough insights beneficial for all users.

  • Overlaying cultural context on traditional journey maps reveals new opportunities for product and brand innovation.

  • Successful brands like Airbnb, Pinterest, and Flow Health integrate culture into product innovation to achieve commercial growth and social impact.

  • Triangulating multiple data sources including macro trends, first-party data, and policy inputs strengthens cultural insight synthesis.

  • Technology platforms can leverage AI-driven tools to track cultural trends and subcultures for focused brand strategies.

Notable Quotes

"We are at an inflection point where what got us here won't necessarily get us to a thriving future."

"Culture is the lens through which we experience our lives and products today."

"If something is culturally resonant, it can shortcut to usefulness in a way that doesn’t seem entirely rational."

"Brands and products become two sides of the same coin when user insights have a seat at the top table."

"Differentiation can be a challenge because much best practice UX results in a wind tunnel effect."

"Bumble’s feature of women making the first move was a powerful cultural lift addressing a huge challenge."

"A company needs a triple win cultural role speaking to its commitment, user needs, and wider cultural tension."

"Starting from specific, edge user groups often leads to more powerful breakthroughs than middle-of-the-road personas."

"Overlaying cultural dialogue on user journey maps uncovers insightful tensions and opportunities."

"Crisis is an opportunity, and user research must claim a louder, prouder voice on brand leadership."

Ask the Rosenbot
Bria Alexander
Day 2 Welcome
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Sam Proulx
To Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Meredith Black
Building Community and Common Trends to Look for in 2021
2020 • DesignOps Community
Jorge Arango
[Demo] How to re-categorize content at scale using LLMs
2024 • Designing with AI 2024
Gold
Lija Hogan
Contexts of Use: A Framework for Connection
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Ariel Kennan
Theme Two Intro
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Julie Baher
Culture Change—My Journey
2015 • Enterprise UX 2015
Gold
Saara Kamppari-Miller
Theme Three Intro
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Shipra Kayan
How Tess Dixon Facilitates Team Engagement and Collaboration at Condé Nast Using Miro 
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Vincent Brathwaite
Opener: Past, Present, and Future—Closing the Racial Divide in Design Teams
2020 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Tony Turner
Capturing Deep Insights
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Nalini Kotamraju
Research After UX
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Sarah Alvarado
How to make UX research leadership more effective [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
2023 • Advancing Research Community
Fredrik Matheson
First-time users, longtime strategies: Why Parkinson’s Law is making you less effective at work – and how to design a fix.
2016 • Enterprise UX 2016
Gold
Christian Bason
Expand—Rethinking Design for Public Challenges
2022 • Civic Design Community

More Videos

Joanna Vodopivec

"Partnering with market researchers allowed us to ask specific product questions within their long-running exit survey."

Joanna Vodopivec Prabhas Pokharel

One Research Team for All - Influence Without Authority

March 9, 2022

Louis Rosenfeld

"The language is like an entirely different lexicon, and sometimes the same acronyms mean different things."

Louis Rosenfeld Lashanda Hodge Senongo Akpem Chris Hodowanec

Becoming a Civic Designer: Making the Move from Private to Public Sector

November 17, 2022

Bria Alexander

"Lauren Cantor is our house librarian and has made an outstanding contribution to the conference."

Bria Alexander

Day 3 Welcome

September 25, 2024

Uday Gajendar

"Lauren Cantor is a heavy hitter gathering all the really good resources and putting them together."

Uday Gajendar Louis Rosenfeld

Day 2 Welcome

June 5, 2024

Sam Proulx

"Accessibility isn’t a checkbox you run automated tests for; you must involve people with disabilities to benchmark success."

Sam Proulx

Online Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience

June 7, 2023

Russ Unger

"Unpaid design exercises are unfair because they don’t take into account people's real-life constraints."

Russ Unger

Onboarding: The Ecosystem, not the Afterthought

November 7, 2017

Catherine Dubut

"Every person on your team matters. Find actionable ways to include and share findings with anyone who will listen."

Catherine Dubut

Bridging Physical and Digital Spaces: Approaches to Retail Service Design

March 18, 2021

Josh Clark

"Characters live at the extreme of radically adaptive AI—they react in the moment and follow the user’s lead."

Josh Clark Veronika Kindred

Sentient Design: New Postures for AI-Mediated Experiences (2nd of 3 seminars)

January 29, 2025

Dantley Davis

"I approached design not from the context of user experience first, but from what job we’re trying to satisfy for our customers."

Dantley Davis

Leadership & Diversity—A Fireside Chat with Dantley Davis

September 17, 2020